For this week’s installment of the Shortcuts Corner, I’ve prepared quite an assortment of miscellaneous shortcuts to share with MacStories readers and Club MacStories members (because I’ve been spending all my time at home due to the state of emergency in Italy, I’ve been reorganizing my entire Shortcuts library, among other things). Following this week’s launch of NetNewsWire for iPhone and iPad, I’ve adapted an existing shortcut to let you subscribe to feeds using the popular RSS client. I’ve also created shortcuts to reopen the watch later queue in the YouTube app, copy app links from the App Store, and copy a webpage selection from Safari as rich text.
Furthermore, exclusively for Club MacStories members, I’ve created an advanced shortcut to upload images to a remote FTP server and copy their public URLs to the clipboard. Let’s dig in.
In a move that comes as no surprise, given the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus around the world, Apple announced today that WWDC, which has been held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center for the past few years, will be held online this year. In a press release issued by the company today, Phil Schiller said:
“We are delivering WWDC 2020 this June in an innovative way to millions of developers around the world, bringing the entire developer community together with a new experience. The current health situation has required that we create a new WWDC 2020 format that delivers a full program with an online keynote and sessions, offering a great learning experience for our entire developer community, all around the world. We will be sharing all of the details in the weeks ahead.”
WWDC draws developers from dozens of countries from around the world. However, with around 5,000 attendees crammed into tight convention center quarters and many more visitors in town for events surrounding the conference, the risk to developers, Apple employees, and the San Jose community is too great to hold an in-person event. Instead, sessions will be online in June with exact dates to be announced later. With the conference moving online, Apple is also donating $1 million to local San Jose organizations.
Of course, Apple’s decision is the right one, but having attended WWDC every year since 2013, I will greatly miss the opportunity to see friends who I often only see there and meet with the developers whose apps we write about all year long. However, MacStories readers will enjoy the same kind of comprehensive WWDC coverage we’ve done in the past. Plus, we’re working on some new ideas to build on past years, so stay tuned.
Federico gives a status report about life in Italy, then Stephen tries to cheer people up by talking about the HomePod. After that fails, Myke tells a story and the gang wade through a sea of iOS 14 rumors, including stories on iMessage, PencilKit, iOS wallpaper apps and more.
You can listen below (and find the show notes here).
0:00 01:16:50
Connected, Episode 285
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The Gnarbox 2.0 is ruggedized, portable SSD storage designed with photographers and videographers in mind. I’ve tried lots of different portable storage solutions in the past, and what distinguishes the Gnarbox is its ability to operate as a standalone device and as an accessory to a computing device. The mix of fast, rugged storage, an onboard operating system, wired and wireless connectivity, and complimentary software isn’t cheap. The entry-level Gnarbox is $499. However, the Gnarbox offers both the peace of mind of in-the-field backups and image and video pre-processing, making it a compelling choice for anyone who captures lots of photos and video while away from their main computing device.
Versatility and reliability are what you’re buying when you get a Gnarbox. I’ve tried other WiFi-enabled backup solutions, including Western Digital’s My Passport Wireless SSD, but in the weeks that I’ve been using a 256GB Gnarbox 2.0 that the company sent for testing, I’ve found that it’s built better, is more capable, and is easier to use than any other portable storage I’ve tried.
Fantastic column by Jason Snell, writing for Macworld, on the rumor that Apple may bring a trackpad to the Smart Keyboard and update the iPadOS UI to support external pointing devices this year:
What makes the iPad great is its ultimate flexibility. When I write about iPad keyboards, people inevitably say: Why don’t you just use a MacBook, already?
But the iPad lets me tear off the keyboard when I’m not using it, and a MacBook doesn’t. I can use my same iPad Pro, and all the same apps, when my iPad Pro is completely naked, when it’s attached to a keyboard, when I have an Apple Pencil in my hand, and yes, even when I’ve got a Bluetooth mouse attached.
This is why I love the iPad so much. It’s everything I want it to be, when I want it to be that—and not when I don’t. Yes, there are definitely tasks my Mac is much better at performing, and in those cases using an iPad can be a compromise. But using a MacBook that can’t be transformed into a light touchscreen tablet is also a compromise. And unlike the current Windows experience, I don’t have to retreat into a weird faux-Mac interface to get real work done.
As I’ve argued many times before, the iPad’s greatest strength is its ability to transform into different types of computer depending on what you need. Here’s how I concluded my Beyond the Tablet story last year:
At a fundamental level, after seven years of daily iPad usage, I believe in the idea of a computer that can transform into different form factors. The iPad is such a device: it gives me the freedom to use it as a tablet with 4G while getting some lightweight work done at the beach, but it becomes a laptop when paired with a keyboard, and it turns into a workstation when hooked up to an external display, a USB keyboard, and a good pair of headphones. For me, the iPad is the ultimate expression of the modern portable computer: a one-of-a-kind device that morphs and scales along with my habits, needs, and lifestyle choices.
A few years ago, I described the iPad as a “liberating” experience that married power to portability and allowed me to work from anywhere. I stand by that concept, but I’ll revise it for 2019: the iPad is a liberating device that transcends its form factor. Its range of configurations, combined with a new generation of powerful iOS apps, delivers a flexible experience that eludes classification.
Adding a trackpad and native support for external pointing devices to UIKit wouldn’t turn the iPad into a laptop: it would just add to the list of potential, optional configurations for the device. That’s been true for a while with other accessories; I don’t see why mice and trackpads shouldn’t be next.
The Apple Watch has come a long way in five years, and apps are only starting to catch up. Many Watch apps received the majority of their development attention with the first or second versions of watchOS, before the days of LTE service, independence, and SwiftUI. Those early Watch apps were hamstrung by OS limitations, but in the last few years as the platform has evolved, most apps never adapted to what’s possible now.
Things 3.12, releasing today, exists for just that purpose: it addresses the task manager’s former Watch client shortcomings, making it a truly capable companion for Things on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
NetNewsWire, which was relaunched on the Mac last August, is now available on iOS and iPadOS. Like its Mac counterpart, the iOS and iPadOS version is built on a foundation of fast syncing and sensible, bug-free design. As with any 1.0 app, there are additional features and refinements I hope to see in future releases. Unlike most 1.0 releases, though, you won’t find lots of rough edges and bugs. NetNewsWire is ready to be your primary RSS client today.
iMazing is the must-have backup and file acces tool for the Mac that provides unparalleled access to everything on your iOS devices. The app works over both WiFi and USB, allowing you to take control of your iOS data. With it, you can make Time Machine-style backups, easily transfer documents, media, and content, and dig into system files, access device and battery diagnostics, and a whole lot more.
With the recent release of version 2.11, iMazing has greatly expanded its photo support. Now, you can manage and transfer even the largest iPhone and iPad photo libraries quickly and seamlessly using your Mac.
Your photos and videos are all available in high-resolution and can even be viewed full-screen before importing them to your Mac. You can also browse extensive metadata about each image like its file name, size, and format, number of views, location, shutter speed, focal length, ISO, and more.
When you decide to export photos, you have a wide range of options and control over exactly what gets exported too. Combined with iMazing’s excellent backup features, the new photos features allow you to easily browse and recover items that have been removed from devices and iCloud.
Version 2.11 is a fantastic update to iMazing that provides the power and flexibility that pro users demand with the ease of use and flexible export features that casual users will love. The update is free to all iMazing 2 license holders, and if you aren’t already an iMazing user, you can download and try it for free.
From March 9-16, 2020 only, MacStories readers can purchase iMazing for 30% off. This is a terrific deal, so don’t wait. Download iMazing today, and take advantage of this deal and start managing and transferring your iPhone photos like a pro.
Our thanks to iMazing for sponsoring MacStories this week.
